Ethical Theories and Violence against Women

Discuss about the Social Work for National Legislation and Policy.

The violence against women as defined by the United Nations states the form or acts of any gender-based violence which results in sexual, physical and psychological suffering or harm to a woman. It furthermore includes arbitrary deprivation of the norms of liberty of women in their day to day life. The concept of violence against women has been a rising topic and has recently been addressed in the national legislation and policy. It is one of the major public health problems and addresses violation of the basic rights of women. Some of the most common perpetrators of the act of violence against women are husbands, boyfriends and intimate male partners. Global estimates by WHO states that most of the violence against women is done by their male intimate partners (Straus, 2014). This paper highlights the ethical theory formulation of the violent acts that are perpetrated by men against women. Implications of relevant ethical decisions in the contemporary practice of this issue of society are also discussed in the paper.

The issue of the violence against women has received the growing public awareness in the recent decade. According to various researchers, the ethical principles in the field of violence against women do not always provide adequate guidance to construct ethical decisions. Ethical theories are essential, not only because they state different explanations for the factor of abuse against women but since each of the approaches has clear implications for interventions and responses by the policymakers and the practitioners of the country.

The women have been considered as the lesser gender for long and this is one of the most highly debated topics in the current era. The traditional concepts of ethical theories have failed in the case of women in terms o equality due to the increasing rate of violence against them by their male partners (García-Moreno et al., 2015). According to many researchers, the formation of the gender-based ethics targets to abolish or ameliorate the practice of oppression of women in particular by their male partners in both their public and private day to day life.

One of the ethical theories related to the individualistic approaches in the context of violation against women includes Neo-Darwinism and contemporary socio-biology: The evolution of the aggression or the violence rate of the male partner for maintaining the fidelity of the women and the connected abuse is generally seen as the male retention tactic (Modi, Palmer & Armstrong, 2014). There remains a very little support for these controversial theories since it provides no such useful suggestions for actions.

Major Ethical Theories Related to Social Work

The social workers have the responsibility to maintain and uphold the highest ethical standards to retain the confidence of the women who are the victim of the violence by their partners. The aim of the social workers is to extend a helping hand to those who need support. The code of ethics is much more than just some set of standards, it is medium to connect the values and vision of the social work practices towards the marginalized group (Dardis et al., 2015). Thus highest level and standard of ethics and integrity in their conducts are desirable while making ethical decisions for the social group with the help of certain principles and theories of ethics.

The success of the target to improve the mental and physical health of the social group is totally dependent on the confidence and trust that is achieved by the victimized group of men. Credibility can be gained by adhering to the required commitments and honesty policies for reaching the goal of improving the livelihood of those women (Turchik, Hebenstreit & Judson, 2016). Effective communication and metal and psychological support are needed since these forms the backbone of the trust and credibility factors among the social workers and the victimized women who are the sufferers of violence from their male partners.

Dignity and respect are the two most ethical factors that constitute the effective ethical decision making in case of dealing with the marginalized group of women. Creation of the environment will generate positive vibes towards the group of women. This will result in bringing out the full potential and the tendency to share their misfortunate stories with the social workers.

The violence against women is a heinous crime. Though there are certain laws and regulation against the crime, the rate of this crime has been increasing throughout the era. Mostly, the developing and the underdeveloped countries report having the highest rate of gender violence issues where 90% case reports violence against women by their male partners or their husbands (Ellsberg et al., 2015).

Ethical theories are extremely essential since ethical considerations are always included in the practice of social work and constitute the founding grounds for the practice of social work. Without the ethical considerations, there will be no social works. The three major ethical theories related to the social work are:

Immanuel Kant: Deontological Ethics-In this theory, Kant explained the supreme moral law as the essential norms that should be followed by each and every rational creature to guide their lives. According to this theory, the moral law was absolute and explains the core ideas of Kantian moral philosophy (Turchik, Hebenstreit & Judson, 2016). Some of the valuable aspects of social work include recognition and respect of the inherent worth of each and every human being, self-care and self-respect and considerations of actions and their impact from a universal standpoint.

Ethical Decision Making in Social Work

John Stuart Mill: Utilitarian Rule Ethics- In this theory, Mill explains his moral philosophy which contrasts with the concept of Kant’s. In his ethical theory, he highlighted the respective consequences of an action while deciding about the moral action (Rada, 2014). The theory states the principle of greatest happiness which explains that any action that results in the greatest good and minimizes pain for the greatest number of an individual is morally correct. According to this theory, the valuable aspects for the social work includes public responsibility since it is inherent in the concept of social work, important to consider the real concerns and interest for the targeted social client groups and improvement of the social surroundings with the full development of their potential capacities.

Aristotle: Virtue Ethics- In this theory, Aristotle stated that any action, when done with a correct motive and by a good minded person, is a right action. According to his ethical theories, it is essential to understand what kind of person is engaging in the action to judge if the action is correct or not (Herlinghaus, 2016). These theories suggest that the outcome of an action is not a decisive feature; it is more a motive that is utilized to engage in actions. According to this theory, the valuable aspects of the social work include close and careful reflections of the actions and considerations of the nature of the person. Besides this, development of the virtues that imply on the characteristics of the social worker is also important. Being consistent and authentic in life are the key aspects of the practice of social work.

The ethical behavior of an individual generates from the commitments of a social worker for engaging in the practice of ethics. It is believed that both the letter and spirit of the ethics code guide the social workers as they act in better faith and with a heartfelt desire to make good ethical decisions (Jewkes, Flood & Lang, 2015). Ethical decision making is considered to be an integral part of the practice of social work. On a daily basis, social worker faces ethical dilemmas that need thoughtful reflections and critical thinking. The concept of ethical dilemma is a generous concept between two actions that are based on the confliction value of professionalism. The figure below explains the model structuring the various components of the ethical decision making the procedure that is actually helpful for the social workers in the context of a reflective framework.

Working with Women Suffering Violence from their Partners

 

Source: (Downes, Kelly & Westmarland, 2014)

The social workers use the models of ethical decision making which promotes reflection and thinking. It is an accumulation of aspects that are helpful in the practice of ethical dilemmas. There are situations where the code of ethics does not specifically address the ethical dilemmas that are caused by the support to the marginalized group of women. The figure below portrays the ethical principle screen that involves the ranking of the ethical principles.

Source: (World Health Organization, 2017)

The social work is a profession that is mainly committed to improving the health and social well being of the individuals in the society. In the above context, the women who are the victims of violence from their male intimate partners are considered as the targeted social group. Hence accountable, professional, competent and ethical minded social workers are needed. The practice of social work is grounded in the code of ethics which sets forth the values and principles to construct a basic ethical framework. Ethical decision makings are thus the core component of the practice of social work (Cook et al., 2015). Social workers thus need to consider relevant ethical principles and consider ethical theories while they navigate ambiguity and make sound ethical decisions. Thus the traditional disciplinary guidelines and ethical theories are inadequate to address some of the ethical dilemmas that emerge while making ethical decisions in the practice of social work with the women who are the victim of violence from their male partner.

Working with the women who have been suffering violence from their male partner raised essential ethical and methodological challenges (Vaughn, 2015). The International Research Network on Violence and Women and the World Health Organization states that it is important to ensure that working or conducting social researchers on the women who are the victims of gender-based violence experiences no further harm or trauma or any further mental health issues by the social workers in action (McCarthy, Hunt & Milne?Skillman, 2017).

Conclusion

Gender violence or the violence against the women is a major health issue thought out the world. According to the reports of WHO, 35% women in the world have experienced either sexual or physical or mental violence from their intimate male partners which sometimes leads to serious harms and even murder and high risks of reproductive issues and acquiring of HIV (World Health Organization, 2017). It can further be concluded that women are more likely to face violence by their male partners when they have low education, social attitudes that accept the violence, exposure to elders being abused by their partners and child abuse scenarios. There are a much-increased number of studies that have been implied to prevent these issues. To achieve the lasting of these policies, it is important for the government to enforce and enact legislation and form policies which can promote effective gender equality and promote egalitarian gender norms. Abolition or ending discrimination against women and making the issue of violence against women as an unacceptable social situation should be addressed as a public health problem.

References

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Turchik, J. A., Hebenstreit, C. L., & Judson, S. S. (2016). An examination of the gender inclusiveness of current theories of sexual violence in adulthood: recognizing male victims, female perpetrators, and same-sex violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 133-148.

Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton & Company.

World Health Organization, (2017)“Violence against Women.”, World Health Organization, Retrieved 29 Nov. 2017 from, www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women.